Sustainable Cities: Urban Land Use and Management

Chapter 25Miller 14th Edition

Mrs. Dow

A.C. Mosley High School

WorkersInterdistrict Direct FeederExpress

Route

Ecocity Concept

City center

Curitiba, Brazil

Urbanization and urban growth

25.1

Definitions• Urban (metropolitan) area = town plus its

suburbs– City = large number of people with a variety of

professions who depend on resources from the outside of city boundary

• Rural area = an area with a population less than 2,500 people– Village = group of rural households liked by custom,

culture,family ties. Historical utilization of natural resources

Urbanization & Urban growth

• Degree of urbanization is percentage of population living in area of greater than 2,500 people

• Urban growth due to:– natural increase - births

– immigration - poor are pulled to urban areas or are pushed from rural areas

• Trends of urban growth:– Increase of 2% to 45% of people in urban areas since

1950

– By 2050 about 66% of the world’s people will be living in urban areas.

Los Angeles13.3 million14.5 million

Mexico City18.3 million20.4 million Sao Paulo

18.3 million21.2 million

Buenos Aires12.1 million13.2 million

New York16.8 million17.9 million

Cairo10.5 million11.5 million

Lagos12.2 million24.4 million

Key• 2001(estimated)• 2015 (projected)

Mumbai(Bombay)16.5 million22.6 million

Karachi10.4 million16.2 million

Dhaka13.2 million22.8 million

Calcutta13.3 million16.7 million

Jakarta11.4 million17.3 million

Beijing10.8 million11.7 million

Tokyo26.5 million27.2 million

Shanghai12.8 million13.6 million

Major Urban Areas

Osaka11.0 million11.0 million

Manila10.1 million11.5 million

Figure 25-3Page 565

1950 1970 1990 2010 2030

Year

4.5

3.0

1.5

0

Po

pu

lati

on

(b

illi

on

s)

DevelopingCountries

Developed Countries

Projections

Urban population in developed and developing countries 1950-2030

• Urban populations are attracting more people

– Developing into poverty centers

– ½ of world people live in cities

• Provide jobs, food, housing, better life, entertainment, freedom of religion, less racial & political conflicts

Figure 25-4aPage 566

Major urban cities in the U.S.

75% of the US population live in urban areas occupying 3% of the

country’s land area

Urban trends

• Most along coastal areas• Most in developing countries• Developed 84% urbanized by 2030

• > million increasing rapidly• Megacities/megalopolises > 10 million• Megalopolis (merger of cities and

adjacent areas) Ex. Bowash

BostonSpringfield

Hartford

Providence

Newark

Allentown

HarrisburgNew York

PhiladelphiaBaltimore

Washington

Detroit ClevelandPittsburgh

ToledoAkronChicago

Chipitts (Chicago to Pittsburgh)

Bowash (Boston toWashington)

Figure 25-7

Page 568

Urbanization & Urban GrowthUrbanization & Urban Growth

• Urban growth is slower in developed countries– 75% of the people live in cities. But by 2025 it

will be 82%.

• Poverty is becoming increasingly urbanized– slums, squatter settlements and shantytowns– at least 1 billion people live in crowed slums of

inner cities. No access to water, sewer, electricity, education etc. 100 mil people are homeless & sleep on the streets

• Urban areas . . . At least 50,000• ¾ Americans are in urban areas

• Most migrated from rural to urban areas• Then, from large cities to suburbs• Next, from North & East to South & West

(1980- )• Back from urban to rural (1990- )

• Urban quality of life

• Some improvement (working, housing, air, water)

• But, Older cities have deteriorating services, infrastructure, Budget cuts, Poverty, unemployment rising

Urban sprawl• Low-density development

encouraged dependence on cars• By product of affordable land, cars,

poor urban planning

• Problems– Decreased energy efficiency,

increase urban flooding, destruction of cropland, forest, open space, longer commute

Urban Sprawl Las Vegas

1972 1995

19671952

Impacts of Urban SprawlImpacts of Urban SprawlImpacts of Urban SprawlImpacts of Urban Sprawl

Land and Biodiversity

Loss of cropland

Loss of forests & grasslands

Loss of wetlands

Loss & fragmentation ofwildlife habitats

Increased wildlife road kill

Increased soil erosion

Human Healthand Aesthetics

Contaminated drinking water & air

Noise pollution

Sky illumination at night

Traffic congestion

Water

Increased runoff

Increased surface water & groundwater pollution

Increased use of surface water & groundwater

Decreased storage ofSurface water &

groundwater

Increased flooding

Decreased naturalSewage treatment

Impacts of Urban SprawlImpacts of Urban SprawlImpacts of Urban SprawlImpacts of Urban Sprawl

Energy, Air, and Climate

Increased energy useand waste

Increased air pollution

Increased greenhouse gas Emissions

Enhanced global warming

Warmer microclimate(heat island effect)

Economic Effects

Higher taxes

Decline of downtownbusiness districts

Increased unemploymentin central city

Loss of tax base in central city

Urban Resource and Environmental Problems 25.2

Inputs Outputs

Energy

Food

Water

Rawmaterials

Manufacturedgoods

Money

Information

Solid wastes

Waste heat

Air pollutants

Water pollutants

Greenhouse gases

Manufactured goods

Noise

Wealth

Ideas

Natural Capital Degradation

Urban areas are rarely sustainable systems

Urban Resource and Environmental Problems

• Destruction of plant life - what is $ value?• Cities produce little of own food• Urban heat island effect --> dust dome

– 5 ways to counteract this effect

• Water supply and flooding problems– 5 ways to reduce demand on reservoirs and

waste treatment systems

• High pollution exposure

•The enormous amount of heat generated creates an urban heat island

•Additional heat changes climate of surrounding area

Advantages of urbanization

• Economic development, jobs, commerce, transportation

• Medical care, family planning, education

• Recycling more feasible• Concentrated people preserves

biodiversity

Disadvantages of urbanization

• Cities to not sustain themselves (consume 75% of resource use)

• Concentrate pollutants and noise• Spread disease, crime, poverty,

terrorism• Flooding a problem• Heat produced cause microclimates

Urban Resource & Environmental Urban Resource & Environmental ProblemsProblems

• Excessive noise exposure health effects– Hearing loss, hypertension, muscle tension,

migraines, headaches, higher cholesterol levels, gastric ulcers, irritability, insomnia, psychological disorders, aggression

Urban/rural poor

• Live in unhealthy conditions• Shantytowns• Lack of water, sewers, pollution,

disease, poverty• More kids, less education

Mexico City

Mexico City

• Rapid population growth (pollution, disease, poverty)

• 1 in 6 Mexicans live in cities

• Unemployment, noise, traffic, crime

• Barrios – slums

• No sewage – bacteria laden, dried, human excrement spread by wind (fecal snow) – spreads salmonella, hepatitis

• Air is same as smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day

• 100,000 premature deaths/year

Transportation and Urban Development

25.3

Available land

• Grow upward or outward?

– Upward• Mass transit• Walk • Ride bikes

– Outward• Use cars• Increase mobility• Waste gas/pollute• Kills people

• U.S. • 32% of worlds cars• 43% of worlds gas

automobiles

• Killed 18 million since 1885

• Largest source of pollution

• Helped create urban sprawl

• Congestion• Building of more

roads• Decreased

property valued

• To reduce automobiles– Users pay for

harm through taxes

– Subsidizing mass transit

– Raise use fees

• Alternatives– Bicycles, walking,

scooters, buses, subways, rail system

– Oil companies crushed efficient streetcar system in US

Advantages Disadvantages

Affordable Produce nopollution Quiet Require little parking space Easy tomaneuver intraffic Take fewresources tomake Very energyefficient Provide exercise

Little protectionin an accident Do not protectriders frombad weather Not practical fortrips longer than8 kilometers(5 miles) Can be tiring(except for electricbicycles) Lack of secure bikeparking

Bicycles

Trade-Offs

Advantages Disadvantages

Affordable

Produce less airpollution than cars

Require littleparking space

Easy tomaneuver intraffic

Electric scootersare quiet andproduce littlepollution

Little protectionin an accident

Do notprotect driversfrom badweather

Gasolineengines arenoisy

Gasolineengines emitlarge quantitiesof air pollutants

Motor Scooters

Trade-Offs

Advantages Disadvantages

More energyefficient than cars

Produce less airpollution than cars

Require lessland than roadsand parkingareas for cars

Cause fewerinjuries anddeaths than cars

Reduce carcongestion incities

Expensive tobuild andmaintain

Cost effectiveonly alonga denselypopulatednarrow corridor

Commit riders toTransportationschedules

Can cause noiseand vibrationfor nearby residents

Mass Transit Rail

Trade-Offs

Advantages Disadvantages

More flexiblethan rail system

Can be reroutedas needed

Cost less todevelop andmaintain thanheavy-railsystem

Can greatlyreduce car useand pollution

Can lose moneybecause theyneed low faresto attract riders

Often get caughtin traffic unlessoperating inexpress lanes

Commit ridersto transportationschedules

Noisy

Buses

Trade-Offs

Advantages Disadvantages

Can reduce travel by car or plane

Ideal for trips of 200–1,000kilometers (120–620 miles)

Much more energy efficient per rider over the same distance than a car or plane

Expensive to run and maintain

Must operate along heavily usedroutes to be profitable

Cause noise and vibration for nearby residents

Rapid Rail

Trade-Offs

Bullet Trains?Potential routes

Urban Land-Use Planning and Control

25.4

Majorhighways

Greenbelt Urban center Satellite towns

Limits and Regulations

• Limit building permits

• Urban growth boundaries

• Green belts around cities

• Public review of new development

Zoning

• Encourage mixed use

• Concentrate development along mass transportation routes

• Promote high-density cluster housing developments

Planning

• Ecological land-use planning

• Environmental impact analysis

• Integrated regional planning

• State and national planning

Protection• Preserve existing open space

• Buy new open space

• Buy development rights that prohibit certain types of development on land parcels

Taxes• Tax land, not buildings

• Tax land on value of actual use (such as forest and agriculture) instead of highest value as developed land

Tax Breaks• For owners agreeing legally to not allow certain

types of development (conservation easements)

• For cleaning up and developing abandoned urban sites (brownfields)

Revitalization and New Growth

• Revitalize existing towns and cities

• Build well-planned new towns and villages

within cities

Smart Growth Tools

Solutions

• Land use planning in U.S. based on continued growth leading to urban sprawl

• Zoning used for growth & to protect areas

• Smart growth discourages urban sprawl protects ecologically sensitive land & water

• Open space preserved by . . .

– Growth boundaries, greenbelts, parks, cluster developments

• Cluster & mixed-used housing more energy efficient & environmentally sound

Undeveloped tract of land

Undevelopedland

Marsh

Creek

Conventional housing development

Typical housingdevelopment

Cluster housing development

Cluster housingdevelopment

Cluster

Creek

Pond

Cluster

Making Urban Areas More Livable and Sustainable 25.5

• Ecocities– People-

orientated, preserve biodiversity, low pollution

– High efficiency standards

– Native trees for noise buffers, pollution reduction, animal sanctuaries

– Limited urban sprawl– Food raised in

community gardens; window boxes; rooftops; organic farms; solar greenhouses

Chattanooga, Tennessee

– 1950s industrial wasteland

– Highly polluted; toxic water

• Now– Zero-emission

industry– Zero-emission electric

buses– Satellite parking c bus

service– Recycling program– One of the most

sustainable and livable cities in the U.S.

One thing still not accomplished is the Cleanup of a Superfund site in South Chattanooga